In honor of National Spaghetti Day (January 4) I wanted to share one of my favorite dinners with you, spaghetti casserole. This recipe is from my great-great grandfather and as far as I know, it hasn’t changed much since the days when he was making it. This is a family-favorite for Christmas Eve dinner, especially for the cook because it’s so easy to make and it can even be made ahead of time and frozen (plus, the red, green and white make it pretty festive).
Ingredients: 16 oz. angel hair pasta | 16 oz. 2% sour cream | 16 oz. 1% small-curd cottage cheese
16 oz. 2% ricotta cheese | 16 oz. regular cream cheese | 28 oz. spaghetti sauce
1 green pepper, diced | black pepper
This is a layered dish, so you’ll need to setup your assembly station. Start by mixing all of the cheeses together in a bowl (it goes a little easier if the cream cheese is at room temperature). Then break your uncooked pasta into 2″-3″ pieces. Dice your green peppers (the easy way) and finally, pour the spaghetti sauce into a bowl that it can be easily ladled out of.
1 | Layer the bottom of a 9″ x 12″ casserole dish with spaghetti sauce.
2 | Top with a layer of uncooked pasta.
3 | Spread the cheese mixture over the pasta.
4 | Sprinkle a few of the diced green pepper pieces and a bit of black pepper over the cheese.
5 | Repeat steps 1-4 until you’ve filled the dish, being careful to fully cover your top layer of pasta noodles with sauce and cheese so they’ll cook properly.
6 | Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes, rotating the dish half-way through the cooking time.
7 | Allow it to sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before serving.
If you have any extra sauce, you can serve it on the side.
From my family to yours, enjoy!
Looking for more meat-free meals? Check out the Vegetarian Eats area.